Baking

The original cornmeal batters, as made for the settlers by the Indians, consisted of cornmeal, salt and water. These simple batters quickly evolved to include eggs, butter and milk, and were the basis of many of the most celebrated Early American breads, cakes and puddings.

Plums replace pineapple in a terrific rendition of a favorite dessert.

A savory onion-cheese spread turns ordinary packaged biscuit dough into inspired mini appetizer "pizzas."

Here's a flourless chocolate cake with a light, soufflé-like texture. Serve it with some coffee ice cream.

Perfect for the holiday season. Cranberries add tang to the filling of these colorful sandwich cookies. You will have some small unsandwiched cookies, too.

This almost flourless cake is easy to prepare.

Like the cake layers, the frosting is made in two separate batches; each batch yields about eight cups. Ivy is for decoration only; please remove ivy before cutting cakes.

"This was a Christmas teatime favorite when I cooked at castles in Scotland years ago," says Doon Fergusson-Howlett of Dublin, Ireland."My sister serves these as petits fours, and they are always highly praised."

Garnish with whole gingersnaps, cherries and mint for a beautiful presentation. Begin preparing the cake a day before the party.